An IoT Based Monitoring and Control System for a Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Farm.

Abstract

The Black Soldier Fly (BSF), scientifically known as Hermetia Illucens, is a sustainable and more affordable alternative or substitute to fishmeal or soybean meal as a protein-based form of feed in pig, poultry, and fish feeds. They are also an effective alternative to traditional disposal of food and biowaste (organic waste) such as landfilling and burning. The waste product of the Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) can be used as organic soil fertilizer because their larvae can easily convert biowaste into biomass. To maintain the best optimal conditions for rearing the BSF and BSFL, constant manual labor is very much required to monitor the farm’s environmental conditions such as temperature, light intensity, relative humidity, aeration, substrate moisture and pH levels which are crucial during their growth and development cycle.

This report describes the design of an operative IoT (Internet of Things) based automated system for real time monitoring and control of environmental conditions (temperature and light intensity) using commonly available and low-cost sensors. The results of the deployment reveal that in the controlled environment, more BSF eggs and thus more BSFL are produced than in the natural environment with manual techniques of maintaining the optimum conditions leading to improved productivity and efficiency in a BSF farm and reducing constant manual labor.